Gentle Galoots:

A visit to a flea market just yielded an unusual #5-sized metallic plane.  
This baby's frog is part of the base casting. The mouth is
not adjustable.  Other than that, it is much like a Bailey plane. It even 
has the Traut-style lateral lever.

The only identifying mark I can find is on the blade itself.
There is a diamond (Rhombus?) outline saying:

        METAL PRODUCTS CO. INC
              PARPLUS
            TRADE MARK
        WEST HAVEN CONNECTICUT

The second "P" in PARPLUS is a little doubtful,
but I think it makes sense as meaning "above par"

Can anyone shed any light on when this was made? Methinks it had to be after 
the Traut patent on the lateral lever expired.

The seller could not tell  me anything about who used this plane, but 
certainly one or more workmen used it vigorously. The iron is sharp, but 
worn down to within one-half inch of the slot.  The now-cracked hardwood 
tote has an amazing amount of wear. The high knob is also quite worn in a 
manner suggesting that it lived in a very active tool box. Oh, and it has a 
LOT of white paint smeared on it!

The design looks pretty good - the blade has a good support down near the 
business end. And somebody loved it enough to wear the heck out of it.  So, 
I'm looking forward to this proving to be a good user.

As a price point, $8 with above-mentioned wear & tear, plus a small chip out 
of the right cheek.  Not really a neener, I'd say.

John R. Ruth
Metuchen, NJ
Who also ripped himself off of $2 by buying two bitstock tools which had 
been ruined by improper sharpening. Still wondering why I didn't notice this 
upon initial examination.
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Hi John,
	I came across a plane by the same maker this weekend.  It caught
my eye because I was born and raised in West Haven, Connecticut.  This
plane is a #4 sized smoother, in very nice shape.  I've attached several
picture below if you're interested.  This plane had a frog made of stamped
steel, not a solid bailey-type frog, which leads me to believe this was a
lower-quality plane than the Stanleys and their equivalents. Does this
maker appear in the DAT? Any dates of operation?  I know.. this is
another book I should buy.. I'm working on it :)

http://www.hyperkitten.com/pics/tools/smooth1.jpg
http://www.hyperkitten.com/pics/tools/smooth2.jpg
http://www.hyperkitten.com/pics/tools/smooth3.jpg

-Josh in CT-


On Sun, 29 Apr 2001, John Ruth wrote:

> Gentle Galoots:
>
> A visit to a flea market just yielded an unusual #5-sized metallic plane.
> This baby's frog is part of the base casting. The mouth is
> not adjustable.  Other than that, it is much like a Bailey plane. It even
> has the Traut-style lateral lever.
>
> The only identifying mark I can find is on the blade itself.
> There is a diamond (Rhombus?) outline saying:
>
>         METAL PRODUCTS CO. INC
>               PARPLUS
>             TRADE MARK
>         WEST HAVEN CONNECTICUT
>

Hi John & Josh & All,

John & Josh mention a plane marked Metal Products Co., PARPLUS, W.
Haven, CT, and Josh asks if that's cited in the DAT. The DAT includes
mention of a Metal Products Corp. of W. Haven, but has no info on them
re dates or such and does not cite their use of the PARPLUS brand name.
Basically just the fact that the name was reported. I'd assume these are
post-1900 planes which the DAT doesn't nominally address on its main
list. However, the compilation philosophy was to cite all names there
unless there was some specific basis for knowing they didn't belong;
names known to be post-1900 are cited in an annex. So not any real help.

Best Wishes,
Bob

Apparently, Metal Products planes were made by Peck, Stow and Wilcox and
sold under this brand name. The New Haven may not be where the were made,
just where Metal Products was headquartered.

I own several and have noticed that they come in several variations:

 - the irons take a very good edge but are not particularly durable,
 - the planes with the cast iron lever caps work ok while those with the
stamped lever cap may be untunable,
 - the smaller planes work better than the larger planes with the #3 size
working pretty well as a smoother even on maple and live oak (a significant
test of a plane), and
 - the cast frog is not actually much better than the stamped steel frog.

With suitable wood, a very light smoother with a very sharp blade is much
less work. One of these can actually be nice to use, if the wood cooperates.

Setting up one of these with the stamped steel frog requires you treat it as
if the frog were not adjustable - set the frog so it lines up with the
casting at the back of the mouth. This part of the casting is thick enough
to form a solid base for the iron. Since the lever cap can bend the iron/cap
iron assemble a little, set the frog just a few though forward of lined up
may be a little better. You probably cannot use any other new blade in the
plane because the original blades are shorter than most. Once you have used
1/2" of your Hock iron, you may be able to use it in a Parplus.

Not a bad worker, but you will never be able to sell one of these to a
knowledgeable user for much more than a few dollars.

Brent
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Ruth"  Gentle Galoots:
>
> A visit to a flea market just yielded an unusual #5-sized metallic plane.
> This baby's frog is part of the base casting. The mouth is
> not adjustable.  Other than that, it is much like a Bailey plane. It even
> has the Traut-style lateral lever.
>
> The only identifying mark I can find is on the blade itself.
> There is a diamond (Rhombus?) outline saying:
>
>         METAL PRODUCTS CO. INC
>               PARPLUS
>             TRADE MARK
>         WEST HAVEN CONNECTICUT
>
> The second "P" in PARPLUS is a little doubtful,
> but I think it makes sense as meaning "above par"
>
> Can anyone shed any light on when this was made? Methinks it had to be
after
> the Traut patent on the lateral lever expired.
>
> The seller could not tell  me anything about who used this plane, but
> certainly one or more workmen used it vigorously. The iron is sharp, but
> worn down to within one-half inch of the slot.  The now-cracked hardwood
> tote has an amazing amount of wear. The high knob is also quite worn in a
> manner suggesting that it lived in a very active tool box. Oh, and it has
a
> LOT of white paint smeared on it!
>
> The design looks pretty good - the blade has a good support down near the
> business end. And somebody loved it enough to wear the heck out of it.
So,
> I'm looking forward to this proving to be a good user.
>
> As a price point, $8 with above-mentioned wear & tear, plus a small chip
out
> of the right cheek.  Not really a neener, I'd say.
>
> John R. Ruth
> Metuchen, NJ
> Who also ripped himself off of $2 by buying two bitstock tools which had
> been ruined by improper sharpening. Still wondering why I didn't notice
this
> upon initial examination.
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
>
> --